Bhubaneswar, Jan. 6 -- Chilika: Over 12 lakh migratory birds were spotted during the annual bird census in Chilika Lake, the first Indian wetlands of international importance under Ramsar Convention and UNESCO world heritage site, on Tuesday. This is the highest ever bird count in the water lagoon in last two decades.

This year, the forest officials spotted 12,04,351, to be exact, migratory birds from across 111 species during the annual bird count in the Asia's largest brackish water lagoon yesterday, said reports.

Last year, the number of birds was estimated at around 10.70 lakh. In 2019, around 10.47 lakh birds were counted at the lagoon.

Of the total bird population counted in Chilika this year, as many as 38,475 birds flocked the ...